


Mothers Shadow

by Darkwolves602



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-04-26 20:03:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5018521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkwolves602/pseuds/Darkwolves602
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after the end of the Skyrim Civil War the daughter of the Dragonborn must travel out into the world to learn the true nature of the hero of Skyrim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge

Born a young girl in the frozen Nord city of Windhelm her mother had died when she was still an infant, far too young to even remember her mother’s face. All she remembered of her mother was the smell of her chestnut hair which fluttered before her eyes as she held her daughter in a mother’s warm embrace. Her father had served as a Stormcloak, a soldier fighting for a cause that he believed in. It was his dedication to those he fought beside which saw him leave his only daughter an orphan in a city of ice being apart by growing conflict.

Without a family to support her, the girl found her place selling flowers to passing travellers of the city just to make ends meet. One day an unassuming woman dressed in heavy steel battle armour, not a strange occurrence since the beginning of the escalating conflict, walked past the city gate where she was selling her flowers. The woman took a single fleeting glance at the young girl before she approached her, crouching down to the girl’s height she asked “What are you selling today?”

“Flowers, mi lady” the young girl replied. “So I might be able to buy something to eat today” After that moment most people who had lingered long enough to ask such a question gave their small gift of charity and returned to their business, but once again this woman continued to defy convention and asked her another question.

“Do you pick them yourself?” she asked. This woman did not seem to be from Windhelm. Her skin was light and soft, her voice well spoken and refined, her flowing long brown hair was well groomed down to the nape of her neck and tied into a neat ponytail.

“Yes” the girl replied. “I got them fresh this morning from just outside the city walls”

“Outside the city?” the woman mused. “It’s rather dangerous beyond the city with the war raging, and now they say there are dragons out there as well”

“I haven’t seen any here yet” the girl replied.

“The rumours talk of a person who can defeat the Dragons” the woman continued. “A person born with the soul of a dragon, have you heard anything of that?”

The girl told her customer of the rumours she had heard of a human who could spit fire and transform into a mythical beast at will. And when asked honestly what she saw when she looked at the woman standing before her the young girl replied simply “A person”

The woman seemed happy with the response and purchased a single bright blue flower from the young girl remarking that ‘Sometimes it takes a child to tell the Jarl that he is wearing no clothes’. The young girl did not understand what she had meant and in that moment did not care as in the next breath the woman offered her a new life as her adoptive daughter. In that moment she had happily been accepted as Sofie Hunter, daughter of the legendary Dragonborn.

 

********************

After she had been adopted by the Dragonborn she had moved to the idealic Nordic city of Whiterun to live with her new mother Brianna Hunter, her partner Brelyna and her adoptive sister Runa.

The house was a simple abode within the Plains District of Whiterun. Her shared childhood with Runa, who their mother had rescued from an orphanage in Riften, was spent playing in the square with the other children of the city.

Sofie quickly learned that her adoptive mother was an Imperial who had come to Skyrim to serve the Imperial Legion as a soldier, becoming the driving force which had tipped the precarious balance of the conflict to ensure the restoration of Imperial rule in the region. As a girl Sofie had never questioned her mother’s choice to serve the Legion which had led to her birth father’s death; her adoptive mother had not swung the sword or shot the arrow which had ended him. The truth was that in her eyes it had never been her war to fight; she had only wished to see a swift and full conclusion to the escalating conflict safe in the knowledge no more would have to face life as child of a parent killed in the fires of war. Brianna still remembered the day they had met, the flower she had bought she kept as a memento pressed between two sheets of glass to preserve it as a pendant she wore around her neck, she considered it her rune of protection. Alongside her service to the legion her mother had become an accomplished Bard of the College in Solitude, leader of the Whiterun chapter of the Companions and a scholar of the magic College of Winterhold.

As the two children grew older their mother had ensured that she and Runa gained experience in swordplay and the physical aspects of life while their other mother Brelyna tutored them in a firm grounding in the use of magic and the spiritual side of the world around them. Runa soon proved herself the magical prodigy of the family, mastering the basic forms of the Illusion, Destruction, Restoration and Conjuration schools of magic in only a few short years. Sofie preferred the more direct approach in battle, training in the use of swords, shields and bows to strike a target from any range while her heavy armour would absorb any impact of a retaliatory strike.

It had now been two years since the end of the Skyrim civil war; the children who had once been young girls now blossoming into fine young adults the image of their parents. In the wake of the conflict and the fall of Alduin the Dragonborn had dreamed of sequestering herself in a life of solitude with her family after so many years of conflict, moving them to her homestead of Lakeview Manor recently constructed on the southern bank of Lake Ilinalta north of the city of Falkreath. However, as the song was sung ‘ _We’re the children of Skyrim, and we fight all our lives. And when Sovngarde beckons everyone of us dies_ ’.


	2. Voice of the Dragon

Dusk came quietly to the lakeside estate, the sun preparing to set over the long horizon and a light breeze carried over the open lake to the north. Sofie Hunter sat on a lounge chair with her feet raised on a stump footstool atop the balcony above the west wing of the estate. She always felt a serene sense of calm and peace washing over her as she stared out over calm waters of the lake, most days she simply found pleasure in sitting out on the balcony to read or paint or write as she wished. As the days grew warmer and summer approached she would go down to the lake to swim or practice her swordplay, however she still had to learn how to use her sword in the water-

“ _You spend too much time alone, you know that_ ” a silky smooth voice spoke as a weight suddenly fell upon her shoulders, arms wrapping loosely around her neck, the warm caress of another’s breath across her ear. “ _What you up to anyway?_ ” she recognised the voice.

“I’m trying to read” Sofie replied off handidly, burying her nose in the book in hopes of simply being allowed to return to her reading. Her sister however would not be so easily deterred and so she reached out to clutch the seam of Sofies book and plucked it from her hands, the bright glow of the slowly setting sun blaring into Sofies eyes.

“What’s this?” Runa turned the book over in her hands. “ _The Lusty Argorian Maid._ Whatever happened to _‘A Brief History of the Empire Vol 2_?”

“Re-reading, actually” Sofie replied.

Runa opened the book, idly flicking through the pages she chose a verse at random and began to read aloud. “ _My goodness, that’s quite a loaf!_ ”

“Hey, give that back!” Sofie cried as she scrambled to her feet, lunging blindly after her sister in an attempt to regain her lost item. Runa simply stepped forward to place a few paces between them.

“ _But how ever shall it fit in my oven?_ ” Runa turned the page. “ _This loaf isn’t ready for baking my sweet. It has yet to rise_ ”

“I said give it!” Sofie darted after her sister once again; Runa simply sidestepped the uncoordinated charge. As a magic user Runa was a master at the art of deception and faint to keep her enemies at arm’s length, avoiding any attempted strike from ever making contact.

“ _If only we could hurry that along_ ” Runas sweet feminine voice turned masculine. “ _Oh, my foolish little Argorian maid, you must use your-_ ”

Sofie tackled into her sisters side, forcing her onto her back foot Runa found herself pinned against the balcony railing. In a final desperate effort to keep her sisters book from her grasp she held it at arm’s length over the cusp of the balcony. Sofie clawed and fought her sister for her prize yet even as she struggled out of the corner of her eye she saw the flash of a light in the trees on a ridge to the west. Another glint of light appeared, any other would have dismissed it as a mere coincidence but she could see-

_She saw her. She saw the dragon burning, ensnared by the fire. She saw her mother, trapped by flame, consumed in the growing inferno._

“My ladies” a voice shattered her delicate trance. “It is dangerous to be outside the estate at night”

The two young women parted to face the source of the voice. Lydia had served their mother faithfully as her housecarl for all of their lives, and had been their attendant since they had been children. _Her hands still bore the scars of the fires kiss._ She proudly wore the finely polished steel plate armour their mother had gifted her for her years of service to their family. Sofie had never seen her without it for any significant length of time.

“Please Lydia, you don’t need to keep calling us that” Runa pleaded with Lydia, her momentary distraction allowing Sofie the opportunity to snatch her book from her sisters hand and clasp it tightly behind her back before Lydia could dare to ask of its significance. “Just call us by name”

“I apologise Lady Runa” Lydia replied. “But as your mothers Housecarl it is my duty to address you as such”

Runa stepped ahead of her sister. “But you don’t need to be so formal all the time...” Runas voice began to trail off into the surroundings, Sofies gaze drifted to return to the ridge-

_The fires rose, the flames dancing and lapping at her skin, her oak brown hair ablaze._

“I see something out there” Sofie whispered faintly beneath her breath. “I see the light”

The voices stopped, the offhanded comment drew the attention of Lydia and Runa. “My lady?” Lydia asked, as she stepped towards the edge of balcony her gaze following Sofies to watch the glow of the light on the darkened ridge. “Stay here” Lydia’s hand drifted to the hilt of her sword secured at her belt. “I shall go and investigate. Please go inside”

“Lydia?” Runa asked.

“Please” Lydia turned to face her, her voice firm and unwavering in the way a mother would instruct their child. “Take your sister inside, it is not safe outside the estate after dark” with her warning given Lydia stepped down the steps from the balcony and set out towards the ridge in search of answers. Runa and Sofie accepted the request in silence, taking her sisters hand Runa led her back into the warm embrace of the homestead.

“You saw her again didn’t you” Sofie remained silent to hers sisters question. “You know what happened to mother was never your fault” Runa hoped to reassure her fledgling sister as she always did. “There was nothing anybody could do”

_She watched as the fire took her, fed upon her body. People stood all around her, watching, each unable or unwilling to intervene as the flames grew grander and hotter._

“Get some rest” Runas voice returned her to reality. “You’ll feel better in the morning”

Runa departed with a kiss on her sister’s cheek and left her to ponder her thoughts by herself. Sofie leant against the banister overlooking the Great Hall, letting her mind wander in silence. Across the great divide she could see the armoury, each display and wall decorated with weapons and armour sets her mother had wielded during the course of the war in Skyrim. There was no doubt the pride of her collection was the Dragon Bone Armour, Sword and Shield set which her mother had forged herself had from the scales and bones of dragons. How the young girl hoped to someday wield such weapons in battle against-

Sofie heard the creak of the floorboards behind her. Expecting Lydia or her sister she was shocked into unspoken silence when she turned and was faced with the shadow of a man in a flowing black robe as he appeared as if from nowhere without a flutter of the air around him. His piercing eyes stared back at her, freezing her in place. The man seemed to move with a graceful and arcane certainty that the world simply moved only for his purposes. The glint of oily black metal flashed within the fabric of his cloak, Sofie could do nothing but stand in silence as the man advanced on her with ill intent in his deep blue eyes.

A blast of cold suddenly filled the air; a shower of snow white fragments engulfed the robed man in a cocoon of ice, the frozen statue preserving him in the final throes of life. The delicate statue of the man shattered, a thousand tiny pieces of icy crystal falling to the floor at her feet. Sofie remained transfixed by the lingering mound of dust, reaching into the mound she felt the biting cold of the ice against her skin her fingers touched the surface of something solid. Pulling it free with a flutter of displaced crystals she found the hilt of an oily back dagger in her hand, the blade imprinted with deadric symbols and engravings which-

“Are you alright?” her adoptive mother’s voice called out to her. Beleyna emerged in front of her, her hands still aglow with a bright blue energy. “Are you hurt?” her mother quickly began to fuss over her as any mother would for her cub. Sofie attempted to stumble out a muffled reply, only to be silenced by her mother’s insistent tone. “Listen carefully” Beleyna clasped her daughter’s shoulders with crushing force. “Find your sister and hide. Do you understand?” Beleyna broke the bond between them, running to the cusp of the stairway down into the Great Hall, the sound of another’s presence within the house drawing her towards the entry hall. Sofie suddenly bolted into movement, adrenaline and instinct taking control with the objective of finding Runa and getting both of them to safety. “And don’t look back” Beleyna called after her.

Sofie ran into the bedroom at the northern end of the house, finding the room empty she continued deeper into the estate. As she turned the corner into the northern wing of the estate Runa emerged from the Alchemy tower, an alchemy journal held between her hands. “Sofie, what’s wrong?” She saw the frantic gaze in her sister’s eyes and knew that the situation was dire.

“We need to hide” Sofie replied through rasping breath.

“What?” was her sister’s only response before Sofie quickly ushered her away into the corridor leading back towards the east wing of the estate. They emerged into the Great Hall; the room was empty, the walls scorched by signs of battle, the thin call of battle carrying on the breeze. They thought they were safe, they thought their path was clear. The door before them creaked open, the hem of flowing black robes stepping out into the Great Hall, piercing blue eyes staring back at them from beneath a billowed hood.

_That’s impossible. I saw him die._

“Get down!” Sofie heard the voice, she felt the heat of the flames as they passed mere centimetres from her face, whooshing past the fireball attempted to strike at the target. The figure in the flowing black robe simply sidestepped the surprise attack in a single fluid motion.

Utilising their brief moment of freedom to break away from their confrontation Runa grabbed her sister by the arm and pulled her back towards the rear of the great hall. She didn’t dare look back over her shoulder, expecting to see the attacker in close pursuit. Quickly throwing open the trapdoor in the floor they quickly dropped into the dark abyss of the cellar below.

 

************************

Runa lingered on the ladder for a brief moment, securing the latch on the door before dropping down to join her sister in the cellar. Nobody had been down here in months; the crates were laid thick with dust, large interconnected streams of cobwebs spread across the ceiling and the embers of a once fierce forge now cold and damp.

“We can’t just wait here” Runa said.

“Where else can we go?” Sofie replied. “We were supposed to stay down here where it’s safe”

“We cannot stay here” Runa said. “Mother always said there was another way out of the estate, a path only a member of our family could find”

Runa began pawing through the dust and dirt in search of the hidden path, checking every shelf and corner in search of some clue to set themselves free. Sofie followed suit, running her finger tips across the rim of the forge where she had learnt to forge weapons and armour at her mother tuition.

Sofie opened the chest at the corner of the room, in her previous life her mother had used these chests to store her weapons and armour crafted at the forge. When Sofie uncovered the chests contents she was frozen in confusion and silence. Among the chests contents were flowing black robes tinted red with fabric which carried an almost mystical aura about them. She did not recognise the insignia, a black hand, emblazed across the chest of the robes. She felt an overwhelming desire rising within her to don the robes, to feel the press of the cloth against her skin.

“What are you doing?” Runa asked her sister as she donned the flowing robes over her blue dress without a word, the girl seemingly taken in a trance refusing or unwilling to respond. “We need to get back upstairs and help mother and Lydia” once more her cries fell upon deaf ears, Sofie remaining oblivious to her sister’s call for action.

Sofie began to feel something stirring within her, nothing you could feel or see or hear, almost an energy moving around her, calling, drawing her close. She pressed her hand to the wall, feeling the heat seeping from her hand into the dust covered stonework. A deep rumble emanated through the claustrophobic basement, the dust thick air unsettled as a section of the wall unfurled to reveal a concealed tunnel beneath.

Runa stepped forward to stare into the dark abyss. “How did you know?”

“I don’t…” Sofie returned to the world of the living, her mind once more becoming her own. She held her palm to her forehead, hoping to quell the raging headache which suddenly eclipsed her. “I can’t-”

The roar of a thunderous crash startled Sofie into silence, the trapdoor in the roof of the cellar beginning to rattle and strain against furious attempts to open it.

Runa turned to face her sister, determination flaring in her eyes. “Go, go now. I’ll follow you”

Sofie forced herself into the breach, slipping her way into the tight passage, pressing herself forward through the dust covered tunnel. The flickering light of the torches in the cellar slowly dimmed into darkness. She could feel the claustrophobia rising thick in the air, the press of the walls against her chest, forcing quick and frantic breaths as her lungs strained to rise against the solid rock wall. She felt the loose fabric catch and tear on the jagged outcroppings. She heard the booming roar as the trapdoor disintegrated in a shower of splinters. She could not risk going back, she had to keep going.

 

*********************

Sofie felt the cold breeze touch her cheek, smelt the waft of the fresh flowers which grew by the lakeside. She pulled herself out into the silver glow of the moonlit night, the surface of the lake glimmering at the edge of the estate. She felt the cold wash over her as she emerged from the cave, the chilly night air filling her lungs as she sucked in the thick air past her lips. Primal animalistic instinct took hold, all that she could think to do was run, and it didn’t matter where. She had to get away, she had to be free.

 

Sofie ran faster and further than she had ever had to endure, but she knew that she had to keep going. She couldn’t risk returning home until she knew she was safe, so she kept running. Her muscles strained, her eyes burned, her lungs tightened in her chest.

Eventually her body could no longer continue to support herself, forcing her to her knees beneath the burden of her own weight at the edge of a moonlit spring. Her mind was fraught and her body unable or unwilling to carry her any further, crawling on her hands and knees she pulled herself towards the water’s edge. Reaching out she scooped a handful of water into her face, washing the burning sweat from her eyes. She closed her eyes and finally allowed her mind to wander; she could not help but think of mother.

 

************************

_She saw the burning pyre. The woman lay atop the flaming structure she was draped in her best finery, a flowing sky blue dress and snow silver sapphire circlet, slowly awaiting the flames gentle kiss._

_All around her members of every faction had gathered to pay tribute, from peasants to Jarls, Mages and Companions. Each was here to offer their sincerest condolences to the hero of Skyrim. Sofie and Runa stood front and centre of the group. Sofie stood straight in solemn silence while her sister clutched her arm and buried her cheek in her shoulder to sob her pain away. Sofie could only stare silently into the heart of the flame as the embers climbed into the starlit sky._

_Through the growing flames the young girl could make out the glimmer of the sapphire blue necklace around her mother’s neck, the sky blue flower held between two strips of glass. Sofie felt her feet carry her forwards, Runa slipped from her sisters shoulder, Lydia stepped forward to catch Runa before she fell. Sofie shuffled slowly forwards, seemingly held in a trance, drawing closer to the burning pyre as if she wished to cast herself upon the mound and join her mother in the flames embraces seemingly oblivious to the imminent threat. The young girl reached out to clasp her mother’s pendent in her hand._

_“My lady” Lydia yelled, charging forward across the divide she snatched the girls hands out of the fires grasp without a seconds hesitation before she could be consumed. The heat of the fire forced Lydia to her knees in wincing pain, tears welling in her eyes at the overwhelming torment, only her strength of will and the pride she felt at the selfless way in which she had risen to the girls defence allowed her to remain conscious._

_Sofie looked down and saw the blood red burns clawing up Lydia’s forearms to mark the kiss of the flames. Slowly glancing down at her hands she uncurled her fingers to reveal an unscathed pendent held in a hand of silky smooth skin. How could she-_

_‘You wear our colours and yet you are not one of us’_

 

************************

This voice was more than a distant memory; it was reality, real enough to awake her from her trance. Sofie opened her eyes and turned to face the voice. The sight which greeted her was that of a figure in flowing red and black robe lingering leisurely on a high tree branch behind her, their face concealed behind a black cowl.

“Who are you?” is all that Sofie could dare herself to ask.

“I really should be the one asking you that same question” although she could only make out a vague outline through the darkness the woman’s well-spoken voice betrayed her gender. “If you wear our robes and you are not one of us then you must have killed someone for them. Tell me, who was it?”

“I didn’t kill anyone!” Sofie was quick to retort the accusation.

“Oh no, you misunderstand. I approve” a low chuckle carried through the silence. “Those who are not strong enough to defend themselves deserve death. So tell me, who was it?”

“I’m telling you I didn’t kill anyone” Sofie continued to protest her innocence.

“Oh” the voice seemed surprised by her determined assertions of virtue. “Not a murderer then, merely a thief”

“And I didn’t steal them” Sofie snapped defensively. “I am Sofie Hunter, daughter of the legendary Dragonborn and protector-”

“Oh, so you’re the Little Dove” the voice laughed.

“Don’t call me that!” Sofie reached for the dagger at her belt, ready to wield it like a beast bearing its bladed teeth in anticipation of attack, only to find that once she looked back up her prey had mysteriously vanished.

“ _But you are Little Dove_ ”

Sofie turned to face the voice behind her to find the woman sitting cross-legged on a high rock ledge. “Your mother was the big, fierce Dragonborn and you are her miniature spawn, therefore you are the Little Dove. You know your mother told me allot about you and your sister, back when we used to work together”

“My mother was an Imperial soldier, a Companion, a Scholar of Winterhold, an honourable warrior. She would never work with someone like you-”

“Not all mutually exclusive paths mind you” Sofie was silenced by the interruption, a sly smile creasing the creatures’ lips. “Ah the sweet innocence of youth, how touching, how blind” the woman leant forward, bracing her chin on her hands. “You never knew your mother did you”

“She was away a lot of the time, but she always came home” the fire returned to Sofies voice. “I knew who she was”

“Really?” the woman threw up her hands in apparent admittance of defeat. “Well I guess it’s true then, sometimes it takes a child to tell the Jarl that he is wearing no clothes”

Sofie was silent. The woman leapt off of the high rock to stand before her. “Do you believe me now? Your mother was an assassin, one of the best of us” Sofie could see the woman’s face, a Dark Elf with snow white hair. “She killed miners and merchants, lords and beggars. If The Mother commanded it the deed was done” Sofie was stunned into silent defiance. “Sigh. Maybe you would believe me if I showed you”

Sofie remained defiant. “I’m not going anywhere with you”

The woman remained exasperated. “Look, this whole ‘My mother was a perfect angel of righteousness’ act is real cute and all, but we haven’t got a lot of time. Now you can either accept that your mother was both an assassin and an honourable warrior and come with me. Or you can deny it, and I leave you here for the men in black robes to find you, assuming wolves and bears don’t get you first” the woman held out her hand for acceptance of the offer.

Sofie finally had to concede. “Ok” Sofie held out her hand, only for the mysterious woman to suddenly pull her fingers between her lips and whistle sharply into the air.

Sofie readied her weapon in anticipation of attack, the woman remained relaxed. “What are you doing?”

The pool of spring water began to bubble and gurgle, the surface of the water forming into an oily black haze. The surface of the water broke in an explosion of displaced water droplets, a dark creature of the night emerging from the pool to trot slowly to a halt between the two of them, its piercing red eyes staring back at her. “Meet Shadowmere” the woman stepped forward to caress the creature’s silky black mane. “This fine creature has been a loyal mount serving our order for as long as the Brotherhood has existed. The last of us he bowed to was your mother”

The woman pulled herself up into the saddle, reaching down she held her hand out for the young girl to take. “Come Little Dove, the truth you seek awaits”

 

************************

The ride through the forest was conducted in complete silence with not a single word passing between them as they passed the ever growing number of identical trees. Descending deeper into the forest they were met by a hidden door which dared to ask ‘What is the music of life?’ to which her mystery woman replied ‘Silence, my brother’.

 

“Welcome to my humble abode” the woman stepped down into the heart of the vast, open cave system. The high walls of the cavernous space were burned with scorch marks or covered by collapsed debris, the tattered remains of banners fluttering high on the walls, too burnt or moth eaten to know whose insignia they once proudly carried. A waterfall on the far wall emptied out into a sapphire blue pool of water, the gentle roar of the water echoing through the space. “The place has seen better days, and I will admit it wasn’t much to begin with, but it’s always been home. I get food from merchant dead drops every few months, eating for one can really stretch your supply”

Sofie saw the furniture lining the far wall, extravagant and finely crafted if slightly stained and scarred. “May I ask you something?” she asked into the void without turning to face the woman directly.

“It depends on the question” the woman replied.

“May I start with your name?” Sofie asked.

“You may ask” she said. “But it doesn’t mean I’ll answer”

“Surely I should be allowed to know the name of my rescuer”

The woman sighed. “My name is Gabriella. Call me ‘Gabbie’ and you will be gushing blood from a hole in your throat for the five seconds it will take you to fall to the floor and bleed to death” the sudden shift of tone forced Sofie onto the back foot. Gabriella decided to explain before she summoned the courage to ask. “Your mother came up with the incessant nickname her first night here” Gabriella collapsed unceremoniously into a wide armed chair. “I never could get used to it”

“Then I guess that begs the question, why are you helping me?” Sofie asked.

“That’s not a great amount of gratitude is it?” Gabriella plucked a goblet of wine from the table beside her chair, pulling her cowl down from around her lips. “If you were dying of thirst in the desert and a stranger offered you water you would probably ask where it came from” Gabriella sipped at her tangy drink.

Sofie remained silent. Gabriella exhaled flatly beneath her breath. “The last time we saw each other your mother asked me to do something for her. She said that if you or your sister were ever in trouble then I was to find you and make sure you got somewhere safe. You hear that Hunter!” Gabriella called out into the cavernous empty space. “We’re even, I’m heading into the void with a clean conscience!”

“How did you know I was in danger?”

“You do not survive in my line of work without knowing everything of note that is happening within your circle. Shadowy figures appearing at the former home of the hero of Skyrim, something’s gotta give”

“Why would you do that for us?”

“I made a mistake” Gabriella snapped, rising to her feet in a single bound before falling back into her seat, cupping her face in the palms of her hands. “I made a mistake” she whispered beneath her breath. “I allowed myself to focus on the big picture, forgetting the big picture was made up of smaller pictures. It’s hard to see the big picture from behind a mound of corpses”

Gabriella fell silent once more, Sofie proved unable or unwilling to respond. “Two years ago, we were betrayed by one of our own” she could not bring herself to bring life to the blonde traitor’s name. “They opened the door and allowed our enemy to attack us in our home. It was a massacre; I was mortally wounded and presumed dead by all the others, left in darkness to die my slow and painful death. There’s poetic justice for you. So I lay there, awaiting deaths harsh embrace” Gabriella took another soft sip of her drink. “Time passed, I don’t even know how long. Eventually your mother returned to the Sanctuary, she never told me why she came back. Perhaps to gather some of her equipment, poke through the charred remains of a once proud fraternity, I never asked. She pulled me out of the rubble, kept me alive, she saved me”

“How did you survive?” Sofie asked.

“Whilst I had no shortage of injuries it soon proved nothing a liberal application of healing potions could not cure” Gabriella reached up to run the tips of her fingers through her snow white hair. “Stuff does wonders for the glossiness of your hair too”

“But why have you stayed here, if you survived maybe there were others-”

“I know there were others” Gabriella interrupted. “From what I heard those who weren’t killed moved north, started their own little Sanctuary near Dawnstar”

“Why did you not go with them, seek out the others. They were your family?”

“They left me in a fire to die” Gabriella enjoyed another taste of her drink. “You tend to lose faith in people after something like that. So I stayed here, I decided to begin my own little brotherhood”

“Just who were you?” Sofie finally dared to ask the ultimate question of the moment.

“Once, I was part of the Dark Brotherhood, perhaps you’ve heard of our work?”

“I have heard of you” Sofie replied. “And I also know that my mother would never associate with murderers”

“Is that what you remember, or is it what you were told? And I promise you we were more than mere murderers. The truth I suspect is your mother was not the perfect image you seem to have of her, in reality her time was spent amongst thieves and killers. Hell, in her wilder days she even killed the Imperial Emperor Titus Mede II. Now that was a good one”

Sofie could still remember the day the news of the Emperors death arrived. On the morning of her birthday she had awoken to find her mother preparing breakfast at the fire. She told her she had ridden home to Whiterun in the darkness of night to be with her family on her daughter’s day. She had watched the uncontained joy in her daughter’s eyes as she presented her with an Ebony Dagger she had forged herself with the raw ore mined from within an Orc stronghold, the very weapon Sofie had trained with since that day. It was that afternoon an Imperial rider came thundering into the city to deliver the tragic news that the Emperor himself had been cut down by an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood.

It was something she had not taken notice of at the time but staring up into her mother’s deep brown eyes as the startling  revelation was given while some wept and others cheered her mother had remained silently calm throughout. She had carried a sort of uncharacteristic distance Sofie had never seen before, like she had already known the truth of the Emperors death, like she had been there to witness it herself.

“So that’s who my mother really was then?” Sofie said. “The murderer who kills an emperor and washes her hands clean before returning to her family” Sofie was sullen. “It can’t be what happened” Sofie muttered.

“It’s not a lie if it’s true. Even so you should not judge your mother too harshly” Gabriella took another long swig of her drink. “She was even slated for execution by the Imperials at one point, right beside Ulfric Stormcloak himself. She never said what they caught her for, but there were rumours circulating in the Imperial City that it had something to do with taking a butter churn, a dog, a hawk’s egg and a set of bag pipe’s into a brothel-”

Sofie was dumbfounded. “You can’t be serious”

“That’s simply the rumours I’ve heard. You know how these things become exaggerated but they always begin with even the smallest grain of truth”

“I can’t stand this any longer” Sofie threw her hands up in admittance of defeat. “I’m leaving”

“To go where may I ask?” Gabriella asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Anywhere but here” Sofie began to gather her few remaining possessions in her pack and headed towards the cave entrance.

“When I found you were weak and crying” Sofie stopped a few steps short of the exit from the cave. “If you leave now then by sunrise you won’t even be back to where you began because you’ll be dead”

Sofie returned to Gabriella’s side, sitting back down on the edge of her seat. “My mother had friends in the Companions, at the College in Winterhold. Why would she not call upon them for help? When we lived in Whiterun Aela was always there for-”

“You mean the dog woman?” Gabriella sniggered beneath her breath. “She won’t be any use, unless you want to know which arses in Skyrim are the most pungent. And Winterhold, the mages there are more interested in reading tomes and playing in the snow than anything which could be of any use against the men in black cloaks. If you truly wish to know the reality behind those who seek to harm you this would require the people who truly understand the dark places in this world. Outside of the Dark Brotherhood there is only one group in Skyrim who would be able to help you against this threat; you will find them in Riften”

“The City of Thieves” Sofie whispered beneath her breath. Her mother had often talked about the city as a den of villainy and debauchery, the city where her sister had lived in an orphanage until she was adopted.

“Precisely, this is where you are going next”

“You expect me to travel there on my own?”

Gabriella shook her head in disbelief, pinching the base of her nose between her fingers. “Divines, are you sure you are related to your mother?”

“While I may not be my mother’s blood, I am as much her daughter-”

“Adopted” Gabriella said flatly. “That explains allot”

“But why can’t you come with me?” Sofie asked, eager to ignore the harsh slight against her.

“I’m supposed to be dead, remember? I took a big risk going out to find you in the first place. If I step outside again both of us would be dead before we passed the first cluster of trees. Once you reach Riften search out the one they call Vex, she used to work with your mother in her previous life”

Gabriella pulled herself to her feet. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can lay your head. You should be out of here before dawn or the wrong people may start taking notice of your presence”

“You can keep the robes but if I were you I would change them for something a little less conspicuous. Wearing our colours presents a bold statement to those you meet, and there are those who would seek to test that statement with steel”

 

************************

“I know it’s not much” Gabriella indicated the coarse sleeping bag lay out on the dusty pockmarked floor of the cave. “But don’t forget that I just got through saving your life, this set up was only meant for me alone. You could always share a bed with me if you so desired”

Sofie glanced back over at the bed laid against the far wall of the cave. The truth was she truly pondered the offering. “I think I’ll pass” Sofie said flatly.

Gabriella cocked her head “As you wish” Gabriella led the girl away with a flutter of her hand. “Come on”

“You can have a wash here if you wish” standing before the pool of sapphire blue water the young girl watched the flow of the waterfall descending into pool before draining away beneath the surface. After all that she had been through she felt the overwhelming urge to throw herself in and let the water surround her. She felt as though she could stand here and simply watch the calming flow of the water and allow all of her troubles to-

“You know what” Gabriella broke Sofie from her trance. “I think I rather fancy a leisurely dip myself” unclasping the belt around her waist Gabriella reached up to hold the scruff of her robes, pulling them up over her head in a single fluttering motion, unashamedly bearing her chest to her young guest. Sofie glanced aside out of reflex, having grown up amongst her family in a respectable area of the city Sofie had little outside experience of the human body. It did not take the eagle eyed assassin long to notice the young girls discomfort.

“You can look you know” Gabriella said, her words only unsettling the Sofie further. Gabriella signed beneath her breath. “We are both women you know” Gabriella pulled off her red fingerless gloves and black shoes, placing them down at the water’s edge beside her robes.

“I know, I...” Sofie stumbled over her own words.

Gabriella rolled her eyes once more, silently casting of her final items of clothing aside she stretched to relieve her strained muscles and allowed the calm breeze to wash over her skin. Without a single sideways glance to her visitor she descended into the pool of water. Gabriella cooed softly as she felt the cool water wash over her in gentle waves of-

Gabriella noticed Sofie lingering at the edge of the pool, Gabriella shook her head. “What?” Gabriella asked, indicating the cave around them with a wave of her open arms. “Are you afraid someone might see you?”

“Well I...” Sofies voice trailed into silence.

“You see, that’s the advantage of having your own underground cave system, you can walk around in your undergarments without fear or modesty”

Sofie dared to resist the offer, but the allure of the tranquil blue waters proved a temptation far too great for her to resist. With a muffled groan Sofie reached up to grab the scruff of her robes and pull them up over her head, taking her blue dress with it, feeling the chill of the dank cave cascading over her sweat drenched skin. She cast off her shoes and loose fitting trousers to reveal her simple white cotton undergarments beneath. She chose to retain these meagre items of clothing, if only to preserve some sense of modesty. Only once she entered the water did she realise the fruitlessness of the endeavour as her perky pink nipples emerged in full view from beneath the fabric. Once she had come to finally accept her circumstances and quell the raging beating of her frantic heart did she allow the tranquillity of the waters to calm her.

The serenity was short lived however; as her gaze passed over the openly bare form of her host she could do naught but cast her gaze aside swiftly for fear of discovery.

“What is it now?” Gabriella asked, drawing Sofies gaze back to her. “Am I too much for you to look at is that it?”

“No I was just. I wondered if you had ever killed anyone...” Sofie began to trail off in search of words.

“You do realise what an Assassin does right? Killing people is rather a large part of the work”

“I meant with your looks. Had you ever killed anybody through attraction?”

“Killing through appearance was rather more Babettes game” Gabriella admitted. “I always preferred the more direct approach, tracking your target across the terrain, tasting their fear, their anxiety hanging thick in the air. At any moment you could strike out from ten directions” Gabriella inhaled sharply and deeply. “It makes me feel alive” as she recounted the thrills of her bloody past her snow white hair appeared to rise of its own accord with flickers of static energy.

“Watching the slow creep of reality, you have no idea how youthful it made me feel, how I have missed the joys of the hunt” Gabriella drew another deep and fruitful breath. “However despite my isolation I have found that there are other ways to sate such pleasures in one’s self”

 The fingers of Gabriella’s right hand, previously lingering on the rim of the pool suddenly descended beneath the surface of the water, dropping beneath her billowed legs. Sofie could quickly feel her breath caught in the back of her throat at the very prospect that-

Gabriella’s hand suddenly re-emerged to break the surface of the water in a shower of droplets, the long neck of a sapphire blue bottle of Black Briar Reserve held betwixt her fingers. Sofies expression quickly turned into one of relief, a change which did not go unnoticed.

“Where else did you expect me to keep the drinks cool?” Gabriella asked. Reaching back into the water she pulled out a pair of silver chalices usually reserved for ceremonies in the temples of Solitude and Markarth.

“I don’t usually partake of...” Sofie said.

Gabriella poured a single goblet for herself, raising her drink to her lips to smell the honey sweet mead. “You do realise how suspicious that sounds to everyone else right?” Gabriella took her first taste of the tangy drink allowing the intoxicating liquid to spill out across her tongue.

“So, you ever had a go with another girl?” Gabriella asked casually.

“What?” Sofie asked with abject horror.

“Never mind” as quickly as she had brought the subject to attention it was swiftly cast aside and forgotten. “Come; let’s get out of this water before you catch a cold”

Without another word Gabriella pulled herself from the water in a cascade of displaced water droplets, once more revealing the true extent of her ample figure. This time Sofie could not to tear her gaze away. “Finally got over your touch of stage fright, little perv” Gabriella giggled.

“Bite me” Sofie responded harshly, growing ever more frustrated with Gabriella’s mocking tone.

“Maybe later sweet thing” Gabriella taunted. “Come on” Gabriella reached down to clutch Sofie by her shoulders, pulling her from the water in a shower of water droplets. “You’re going to catch a cold”

Gabriella stepped towards the far edge of the cave where she had laid out her ‘bedroom’, reaching into her dresser she drew out a fluffy white towel no doubt weaved of fine wool intended for the skin of high nobles. Wrapping the soft material around her she proceeded to dry herself off, seeming to take great enjoyment in paying special attention to her silver hair and her voluptuous chest.

Having finished drying herself off Gabriella returned her attention to the young girl still lingering by the edge of the pool. “Do you need me to dry you off?”

“I’m not a child” Sofie retorted sharply.

Gabriella shrugged dismissively. “Only offering little dove”

“And I asked you to stop calling me that” Sofie said.

“And I only take orders from the Night Mother and Astrid; now that they’re gone I take orders from no one. Especially you little dove”

Sofie felt she had finally reached the edge of reason, she could no longer contain her frustration. Sofie launched herself forward with as much energy and force as she could muster, her shoulder striking Gabriella’s chest and landing her down onto the bed behind her with a soft bounce. “Wow, ferocious little dove aren’t you?”

Although initially thrown by the unexpected attack Gabriella was quick to respond as she struggled beneath her adversary. Reaching out she wrapped the towel still caught between them around the young woman’s body, locking her long arms behind her opponents back she bound the young girls’ arms to her sides and kept their bodies tightly intertwined. Sofie struggled and resisted against her hold in a futile attempt to break herself free from this entrapment, only to feel the bonds grow as Gabriella tightened her grasp. “So she does have a fiery side to her”

Seeing no other outlet for her bound aggression Sofie threw her head forwards to lash out in one of the few ways still available to her. However in her fiery haste she had engaged her opponent without proper forethought and what had intended to be a ‘Windhelm Kiss’ emerged rather more closely to a normal kiss than she had ever intended.

Having realised the gravity of her mistake Sofie was quick to retreat meekly in silence. “I’m sorry, I...” Sofie muttered beneath her breath.

“Why did you stop?” Gabriella asked.

Sofie bit her lip as she forced the words past her tongue. “It was not right for me to thrust myself upon you”

“Thrust yourself upon me?” Gabriella smiled. “There are very few people who could have done that to me and still lived, and they’re all dead. If you wanted to have a go why didn’t you just say so”

Her frustration with this devious blue witch was nearing a tipping point. Perhaps this was part of her seduction techniques, how she had lured her previous victims to their deaths.

“You can stop worrying by the way” Gabriella interjected. “If I wanted you dead I wouldn’t have needed to do anything”

As she said it Sofie began to fear Gabriella was some kind of demonic mind reader.

“Now” Gabriella patted Sofie on her arm, rousing her as she rolled over the bed. “Feel like having something to eat?” Gabriella asked.

Sofie expected the moment to finally return to some semblance of normality. But the ‘food’ Gabriella offered was far removed from what she had in mind. As she sat at the edge of the bed she watched as Gabriella opened her legs and unveiled her delectable sweetness.

Deep down Sofie knew she was tempted by the offering and swiftly felt herself being drawn inexplicably towards her until her lips met Gabriella’s. Sofie lips touched Gabriella’s, a shivering cascade running down her spine at the tantalising sensation.

“I like to think of myself as a woman of refined and yet simple tastes” Gabriella mused, reaching down she nuzzled the girls long brown hair. “I have missed these simple pleasures of life, a warm bed, a fine wine and as youthful tongue” Gabriella sat basking in the warm glow of the young girls embrace. Sofie had dared herself to perform the act in the hope that Gabriella would respond in kind.

“Now” Gabriella pulled the girl from between her legs as she threw her down onto the bed. “Let’s see which is better” Gabriella descended down upon Sofies puckered lips. “The bun, or the oven”

“I told you” Sofie bit her lip as Gabriella kissed her outer lips. “I was adopted”

“Who said I was talking about Hunter?” Gabriella smiled devilishly, however any attempt to ask further on the subject was swiftly snuffed from existence as Gabriella pressed her lips to Sofies. Gabriella’s probed and touched as she pleased searching out for the elusive sweet spot. Sofies hands fumbled to clasp the thin sheets lying beneath her as she writhed and turned across the bed.

She was only spared the conclusion of her orgasmic embrace as Gabriella tore her lips from her flower. “Quick” Gabriella panted. “Look in the bedside drawer”

Sofie begrudgingly rolled herself over to delve into the draw as requested and retrieve what lay within. “What the hell is this?” she asked as she held the item in her hands.

“What do you think, it’s a bloody unicorn horn, just stick it in me”

“Where in Skyrim did you find something like this?” Sofie asked with complete disregard for the point.

“Oh just hurry up already” Gabriella groaned in anticipation of looming satisfaction held just beyond her reach.

Sofie teased the tip of the toy against her outer lips. “Tell me and I’ll let you have it” Sofie said with a tricksters smile creasing her lips.

“Oh” Gabriella groaned. “I was walking along a sandy beach under a moon lit night and I stabbed the infernal beast with a croquet needle and cut off its horn for use as my own personal plaything. Are you satisfied?”

Sofie smiled. “Very well, Gabriella” Sofie pressed the toy in further, caressing Gabriella’s sensitive spot.

“Oh, call me Gabbie, call me Gabbie!” Gabriella cooed softly.

Their moans rose in concert as the two reached their climax.


	3. The Night of the Thief

The young traveller left the Sanctuary at the rise of dawn. Discarding her robes for a black leather tunic and pants concealed beneath a travellers cloak she hoped such sombre attire would allow her to tread the open roads undisturbed. She mounted her borrowed steed, Shadowmere, and set out on her journey towards the eastern fringe of the frozen land.

Sofie had chosen to remain on the main roads and soon found herself passing through the hold capital of Falkreath. Although the estate she had called home for the past few years had only been within a few miles of the town this was one of the few times since she had come here since her mother’s passing. As her horse trotted slowly through the street she strained to overhear the fleeting conversation of two men standing outside the local inn.

“ _Wasn’t that the estate of the Dragonborn?_ ”

“ _Yeah, I heard something happened a few days ago. You hear anything?_ ”

“ _The guards went out to investigate this morning. The whole estate looked abandoned, scars of battle everywhere_ ”

“ _Bandits you think?_ ”

“ _It’s an odd sort of Bandits that use fire and ice spells. And there weren’t nothing stolen, no weapons or jewels missing. Only thing that was gone was a load of clothes and all the food in the kitchen_ ”

“ _You’re right. Mighty strange bandits who break into the home a dragon killer for a frilly dress and a stale sweet roll_ ”

So it was true, the estate had been abandoned with no trace of Brelyna, Runa or Lydia. No doubt the city guards presumed everyone either dead or taken by whoever had attacked the estate. She could not risk returning to home based on idle curiosity, but it did not comfort her to rely on second word and gossip. For now it would have to suffice.

 

**********************

A few days ride from Falkreath laid the city of Riften. Known as the City of Thieves it was a city regarded as a den of treachery and deceit unfit for all but the lowest of creatures of Skyrim.

Sofie arrived as a fresh sun broke over the horizon on the fourth day in the wake of the attack. She dismounted Shadowmere at the edge of the forest lingering just within sight of the city, preferring to approach the city on foot rather than astride a demonic mount. She walked the beaten path as many travellers had done before her draped in her flowing black cloak she hoped she would be able to pass unnoticed-

“ _You in the cloak_ ” the challenge of a guard’s voice stopped her in her step outside the city gate.

“Yes” Sofie acknowledged the guard.

“You have to pay the visitors tax for entering Riften” the guard said.

“Why would I need to pay to enter the city?” Sofie asked.

“The visitors tax is paid by all non-residents entering Riften. If you don’t, bad things happen” the guard repeated.

“I call horker dung on that, how can you expect me to believe-” Sofie instinctively reached out for the dagger at her belt. Riftens reputation for violence required-

“My apologies, miss. I didn’t recognise you” Sofie noticed the guard had taken an interest in her mother’s pendant around her neck. “Please go ahead” the guard stepped aside to allow her entry.

 

************************

Walking through the streets she found the city carried itself with a cold and weary dreariness as much in the people as the architecture.

Leaning on the railing overlooking the river across from the market square she could watch the bustle of the people going about their trade. On the edge of the city she could see the towering citadel of Mistveil Keep piercing through the morning fog. The moment she had stepped into the city she could feel a looming sense of sadness and sorrow, or it may have been the smell of the canals-

In a flash of movement too quick for her eyes to follow a figure emerged from the shadows behind her. She felt a hand at her belt, her purse. They ran off down the planked street.

“Hey, give that back!” Sofie protested and swiftly gave chase down the street after them.

Reaching the end of the street the thief darted around the wall to emerge in the courtyard of the Temple of Mara, Sofie remaining close on his tail as she pursued him. Following in his wake through the courtyard Sofie emerged into an eerily silent graveyard. Fearing she had lost sight of him she glanced up to watch as her quarry scampered across the treacherous rooftops as naturally as a creature born to traverse the urban jungle of wood and stone.

Forced to continue the pursuit at ground level Sofie could only fight to keep pace as the young thief ran from rooftop to rooftop across the back alley of the city. Quickly running out of roof space to traverse the thief leapt from the high ledge and surrendered himself to the unforgiving influence of gravity, transferring his fall into a roll which brought him back to his feet in a single motion to continue his escape.

Turning a corner Sofie found the thief standing at far end of the alleyway, struggling to unlock the metal gate. He turned to face her down because he had no choice; she saw the desperation in his eyes. Sofie realised she had drawn her weapon out of instinct, she did not know what she would have done once she had caught him.

This was not just some mad dash for justice or a crusade to right some injustice made against her, all the money she had left since leaving the estate was in that pouch. Sofie did not know how he would dare to break free but knew that he would have to go through her-

“ _That’s enough_ ”

Sofie turned to be met by the source of the voice at the mouth of the alleyway, a woman with long blonde hair dressed in a black leather jacket and pants.

“You did well to keep up, almost too well for a common mark” the woman commented to Sofie with a sly grin. “You though” the woman’s tone suddenly turned harsh as her attention was shifted to the young thief, she stepped past Sofie without a second glance to stand high over the young boy. “What the hell happened there? What’s the first rule of running away?”

“I know” the young thief replied with downturned eyes, clearly being forced to suffer the repeated sting of the same lecture for the ever growing nth time.

“Always know your escape route before you execute the snatch” the woman enunciated every word as if she wished them to be thoroughly nailed through the boys’ skull.

“I already picked the lock-” the boy was quick to reply in an attempt to redeem himself.

“Second rule” she interrupted, seemingly anticipating his response. “Always assume your escape will be blocked and have a backup already planned”

“That’s what I thought” the young thief pleaded. “If I could just get through here I could loop back around to the graveyard and-”

“Rule three; never return to home base with a tail on your arse” the boys pleas appeared to fall upon deaf ears. “It seems she’s got you cornered here, not seeing much hope of you getting away now”

“Right, sorry Ve-” the young boys’ apology was silenced by a sharp clip around his ear.

“Rule four, don’t let slip any information about who you are or where you’re from” the woman glanced over at Sofie. “I mean it’s not like she could find us anyway but-”

“What’s going on?” Sofie asked.

The woman’s attention suddenly shifted back to Sofie. “Oh yeah, you” the woman turned back to face the thief holding out her open palm expectantly. The young boy produced a leather skin pouch from his pocket, reluctantly handing it to the woman. She accepted the offering, bouncing it in her hand to test its weight. “Since he got himself caught he doesn’t get his cut this time” the woman threw the pouch back into the hand of its owner. The young thief shuffled past his victim with a downturned gaze. “But he’s getting better” the boy turned, the woman threw a gold coin for the boy to catch in his cupped hands. “And frankly I can’t be arsed training another one if he ends up dead for lack of a meal in his belly”

With the young thief gone the woman finally returned her full attention to his victim. “There, you got your gold back”

With her final word made the woman simply walked away without a second glance. “Wait” Sofie took a few steps in pursuit. “He said your name was Vex right?”

Vex stopped with a weary sigh, not even bothering to face the girl directly. “Now, I’m sure you already know who I am, and I know why you’re still here”

“You do?” Sofie asked.

“You’re the little girl from the small town with stars in her eyes wanting to join up with us and become a dashing thief like in the stories. Well sorry girly, we don’t just let anyone in on our line of work. Try your luck at the Bee and Barb, I’m sure they could do with another dish maid” the woman continued to walk away on her own. “Oh, and drop the cloak and dagger routine, you look ridiculous”

“What, no!” Sofie was quick to give chase after the woman. “If you’re with the Thieves Guild then you’re the one I was to meet. I was told you knew my mother and I needed to know-”

The woman stopped in her step. “Hey, wow” she held up her hands in defence. “If you think one of my guys is your dad then-”

“No, I was told to come here and ask you too-” Sofie persisted.

“Look, I’ll stop you right there; I’ve heard it all before. Sorry kid, give me one good reason why I should even waste my breath with you” the woman turned her back once more.

“Because sometimes it takes a child to tell the Jarl that he is wearing no clothes” Sofie said.

The woman stopped. “What did you say?”

“So I was right” Sofie announced with a noticeable tinge of audacity. “You knew my mother, Brianna Hunter”

“I haven’t heard that name in years” the woman pondered. “Alright, dropping her name gets you a chance at least. Let’s talk”

 

************************

“So you must be the ‘Little Dove’” Vex said.

Sofie shook her head. “Why does everyone I meet call me that?”

“Because that’s what you are” Vex replied flatly. “Your mother was the big fearsome dragon and you are her adorable little songbird. Truth is it was your mother’s pet name, not ours. She always called your sister her Little Wolf and you were her Little Dove. I guess your sister preferred to run around the forest with her nose in the dirt while you had your head in the clouds”

“Mother really told you about us?” Sofie asked.

“Of course. I also know if you’ve come all this way there is only one reason, you wish to learn to become like your mother”

“No I-” Sofie stuttered. What do you mean ‘Become my mother’?”

“You’re here to learn as your mother learned from us. How to hide in plain sight, how to pick locks of any chest or door you encounter” Vex brushed past a passer-by with only the faintest flutter unsettling the flow of the people strolling around them. It was only once they were a few paces past the encounter that Vex revealed the leather skin pouch concealed in the palm of her hand. “How to steal from a mark”

“And what if I did not come here to be like my mother?”

“If you want to survive in this world you must learn these skills, there’s no two ways about it”

“If you say so” Sofie had one more thing she had to know. “At the gate, the guard commented on my necklace, he seemed to think it was important”

Vex glanced down at the necklace around her neck. “I remember that, your mother always wore it. Even when we were doing stealth jobs she refused to leave it, she said it was important to her”

“It was my mothers, it’s one of the few things I truly have to remember her by”

“Come on” Vex said. “I’ll introduce you to the rest of our dysfunctional little family”

 

*********************

“Welcome to the Ragged Flagon” Vex announced into the cavernous space before them.

In the very moment that she stepped into the open space whatever thoughts and opinions she had once held about the city above suddenly disappeared into the sickly green ooze which bubbled and lurched in the centre of the pit, this place smelled far worse.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the smell, eventually” Vex’s reassurances proved small comfort as Sofie pondered the realisation of a pseudo city hidden in the sewers beneath Riften and how many of those living above knew that such a thing even existed beneath their feet.

Stepping past the array of weapons, armour and alchemy shops into the communal bar area on the far side of the cistern Sofie found herself surrounded by people who in her previous life she would have regarded as dangerous and untrustworthy individuals. How her life had changed.

“Pull up a chair” Vex indicted the vacant seat at the table lingering at the edge of the bar. “I’ll find us something to cure what ails ya” Sofie sat herself down while Vex offered to get some drinks for the two of them.

Sofie had never been much for alcohol, having spent her life living on the street witnessing the anger and depravity such drinks arose in normally sensible people. Now more ever she needed to keep her mental faculties about her and could not afford to dull her senses if she was-

“ _So you’re the youngen then?_ ” a voice from behind drew her gaze for just long enough that once she looked back she was met by the sight of a large, shaven headed man as he dropped unceremoniously into the unoccupied seat beside her.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Sofie asked

“No” the man replied flatly. “Names Devlin, I used to work with your mother. Divines, I remember your mother. She had great big tits and fat arse”

“That’s my mother!” Sofie was shocked.

“Which one do you mean? You’ve got two of them ain’t ya?” Devlin laughed, taking an ample swig of his drink. “Sure is a shame she was into all that, would have loved to try her on myself”

“I can’t believe my mother would work with people such as you” Sofie said.

“People like us, eh” Devlin laughed. “Listen Little Dove, sometimes there have to be bad people in the world so that good people can feel better that they have never done the things we do to survive in this world. I never met your mother, your other mother that is, but your mother would talk about her and you kids non-stop. Nearly blew our cover on more than a few jobs because of her mouth, a few being more than zero in my books-”

“Alright Devlin, that’s enough” Vex reappeared, two hefty flagons held between her hands. “No need bore the kid to death with your dreams of conquering her mother”

“Where did you find her anyway?” Devlin asked.

“I gave her a saucer of milk and she followed me home, I was going to ask Brynjolf if we could keep her” Vex smiled. “Now are you quite done?”

“I was just regaling the young lass with the tale of how her mother brought the guild back from the brink of the abyss and re-established our position as a dominant force within every city within the reaches of-”

“Yeah, yeah we all saw it” Vex sat down on the unoccupied seat beside Sofie. “Now do you mind shoving off, I’ve got to have a talk with the Little Dove”

“As you wish” Devlin hefted himself up and silently returned into the idle humdrum of the bar around them.

“Is it true what he said about my mother and-” Sofie trailed off as the thoughts seeped into her mind.

“Devlins an old pervert” Vex passed the flagon across the table. “I’ve told him before if he follows me to the lake again I’ll cut off his most valuable asset. He never listens though”

Vex ensured her colleague was truly beyond earshot before she returned her attention to the young girl at her side. “Now then” she asked, raising her flagon to her lips in anticipation of the sweet drink. “Let’s hear the tale of what brings you to this den of sin and debauchery we call our merry little clubhouse”

 

Sofie fell into a recount of the events which had led her to this place. She told Vex of the men who had attacked the estate, her escape through the forest, how she met the assassin who had told her the truth of her mother’s past and the chance encounter which had brought her to this place.

“So the blue witch yet lives eh? I guess after the number of lives the Dark Brotherhood has taken it’s too much to ask the universe for one in return” Vex took another swig of her drink. “As for your men in black cloaks I’ll admit even in my infinite wisdom I’m stumped to think of anyone who matches what you describe”

“You’re saying that you cannot help me” Sofie replied defeatedly.

“I never said that” Vex interjected, keen to nip the accusation in the bud. “There is only one person in the Thieves Guild who may have an idea of what it is that hunts you” Vex took another swig of her drink. “I’ll send a message; should be able to meet them by morning”

“By the way, where are you staying tonight?”

Sofie bit her lip and she resisted the urge to reply.

“I suspected as such. Your mother maintained a house in the docks, I’m guessing she had the key on her last time she left” Vex reached into her pocket, she cast a leather bound satchel of small metal picks across the table. “Use these on the lock” Sofie could only stare at the illicit tools until Vex finally responded. “What, your mother never told you to pick locks?”

“Yes” Sofie begrudgingly answered.

“Then what’s the problem? It’s technically your house anyway” Vex took her final long swig of her drink. “I’ll stay with you tonight until you learn about your mystery attackers, keep the other guys from getting any ideas”

Her instinct had been to reject the offer. For now all that she wished was to be left alone to contemplate all that came before her. She knew that such an attitude would only see her dead in this situation, she could not show any sign of weakness to these people.

“Very well” Sofie said. “For tonight”

 

************************

_A journey bound by the touch of the cold._

_A traveller guided by the words of the bold._

_A vanguard rises at the sirens call._

_A dragon whispers a name through the wall._

_A daughter cast to the whims of the tide._

_A mother bound by a life she must hide._

_A cold covered mound, holds the truths of this tale._

_A traveller’s journey, to safeguard the truths of the veil._

“That’s a lovely song” Vex mused as she listened to Sofie sing the tune softly beneath her breath as she sat on her bed, clutching her knees to her chest. Vex ran the final pass of the cloth across the bladed edge of her dagger before placing it down on the table alongside the rest of her freshly cleaned assortment of blades, picks and armour plates.

“My mother, Brelyna, she used to sing to my sister and I every night when we were children” Sofie said, singing the words brought back memories of happier times.

 “How did you know my mother?” Sofie asked.

Vex rose herself off of the chair at the desk, passing across the house she collapsed unceremoniously into the vacant bed besides Sofie. “I was here when your mother joined the guild. Thanks to her efforts the Thieves Guild has established contacts in every city, and as Guild Master she commanded our resources across Skyrim. We even had people in Whiterun keeping an eye on you and your sister, your mother’s orders”

“You were watching?”

“Every time you and your sister would sneak out of the city to go play by the riverside”

“So you were watching me all the time” Vex smiled. “Or every time you used to hide beneath the bridge to get out of doing your chores”

With the memories of her childhood swiftly returning to her so too did memories of her mother. “Why did my mother speak so harshly of this place to us?”

“Because it’s true” Vex flatly, offering no defence for the city she called her home.

“But why did she tell us never to come here, to the city where my sister was born?” Sofie asked.

“Because she wanted something better for both of you” Vex replied.

“I have to know” Sofie swiftly shifted the topic. “Gabriella insinuated that she had been... with her”

Vex sniggered beneath her breath. “Your mother was rather adventurous in her time, and I’m not referring to simply fighting Dragons”

“So” Sofie said down beaten. “You’re saying my mother cheated-”

“No” Vex silenced Sofie before she could finish the thought. “This was before she met Brelyna, the one person in all of Skyrim who could ever tame that Dragons soul”

“So, did you ever?” Sofie’s mind drifted to other thoughts.

“In my youth I did cast a flirtatious gaze over the Jarl, Laila. We even invited her Steward Anuriel with us on occasion” Vex’s slips curled into a feline smile as the memories returned to her. “She was a right goer in her day”

“But you and my mother?” Sofie repeated the question.

“Never mix business with pleasure” Vex suddenly returned serious for the briefest of moments. “Unless” but as quickly as it had dispelled her cat like grin had returned, accompanied by a drifting hand across her thigh. “You enjoy that sort of thing?”

Sofie only now realised that Vexs fingers had drifted further up her thigh, likely the same dexterous skills she used in her thieving. After her experiences with Gabriella Sofie was eager to take the lead in this moment. Sofie pressed her weight into Vexs shoulders, rolling her onto her back and taking advantage of her surprise to pin Vex beneath her on the bed.

“How cute” Vex smiled devilishly. “The little pup thinks she’s Den Mother”

Vex was swift to reassert her control over her younger counterpart, rolling the two of them across the bed only for her to emerge on top in the end. Sofie found herself pinned beneath Vex, throwing herself upwards she pressed her lips to Vexs.

“Huh” Vex appeared mildly impressed at the attempted subversion. “Perhaps you should be the ‘Little Iguana’, work your way up towards Dragon”

Sofie knew what this was, a battle, and a test of dominance. In truth Sofie knew that this was not a contest she could hope to win yet still she resisted, determined to prove herself at least a fighter in her late mothers’ eyes. To her astonishment her persistence was rewarded as she began to gain the upper hand, an offered victory no doubt. In her mind Vex relinquished her unwavering grip over the situation, tasting the arousal at the merest thought of allowing her actions to be dictated by the whim of another.

“I thought you said you would never mix business and pleasure?” Sofie said.

“I would hardly call what we have business” Vex said. “Besides, what is the point of having a rule if you refuse to break it?”

 

************************

Sofie lay in her bed, held in the warm embrace of her sheets. A rustle in the darkness unsettled her from her slumber. She saw a figure looming in the shows. “Vex?”

Sofies mind returned to the reality, the dark outline of a figure looming over her.

_Welcome Little Dove._

“Uh” Sofie groaned hoarsely. “Why does everyone call me that?”

_Because that is what you are, Little Dove._

Sofie opened her eyes, a dark spectre looming over her draped in flowing black robes. Her vision began to clear as she saw herself sitting in the centre of a dark cave.

“Welcome” the dark feminine figure raised their arms in open acceptance. “To Nightingale Hall, Sanctuary of Nocturnal”

“Who are you?” Sofie asked.

The figures hand reached up to remove their mask and cast back their hood. “My name is Karliah, servant of my Lady Nocturnal”

“You were the one I was told to meet” Sofie said. “The one who knew the truth about my family”

“Is that what you were told?” Karliah asked. “Very well, what is it you wish to accomplish?”

“I need to find the people who attacked my family, I need to protect them” Sofie said.

“A noble endeavour” Karliah mused. “To do that you must become your mother”

“So I have been told” Sofie said. “But I do not know how learning to pick locks and steal pursues will help me to find the people who attacked my family”

“Your mother was far more than a mere thief” Karliah laughed. “Your mother was a Nightingale. She swore her oath to Nocturnal as one of the three. Although she may not be your mother by blood her heroic spirit dwells within you”

“What are the Nightingales?” Sofie asked.

“We work with duty in the service of our Lady Nocturnal” Karliah said. “Our work serves with honour and we do not taint our blades with the blood of innocents”

“Are you saying I must be as my mother and conspire with Deadra to spare myself?” Sofie asked.

“You must become your own person and dare to live beyond your mothers’ shadow” Karliah said.

“If that is what I must do, then I accept your contract” Sofie accepted

“Very well” Karliah reached out to her. “Now, sleep Little Dove”


	4. The Realm of Solitude

Sofies eyes fluttered open to face the bright light which pierced through the crack in the roof to dance across her face.

_You’re looking worse than I am this morning_

Sofie glanced over to see Vex sitting beside her. “But I was-”

“You met Karliah I take it?” Vex asked.

_How did she know?_

“Yes” was Sofies only reply.

“Did she ask you to become a servant of Nocturnal?” Vex continued flatly.

Sofie remained silent, yielding only to the soft chuckle from Vexs lips. “Yeah she tries that with everyone, did she tell you anything useful at least?”

Sofie fought to gather her thoughts to reply-

“Never mind, you can tell me over breakfast” Vex interrupted. “We have a job for you”

 

********************

The mornings meeting was held in the Ragged Flagon. Devin sat across from Sofie with Vex sitting at her side each with a large flagon of mead placed before her.

“Isn’t it a little early for Mead?” Sofie asked.

The two thieves erupted in an uncontrolled laughing fit. “Right” Vex finally regained her composure as the laughter petered to its natural conclusion. “Let’s get this meeting underway, we’ve all got people to rob blind today” Vex turned to face Sofie. “I’ve got my contacts looking into the people who attacked you, they’ll report back as soon as they find anything conclusive. For now though we have a job for you which should prove ample opportunity to test your skills”

“But I only arrived yesterday” Sofie insisted. “You haven’t even started training me”

“Learn by doing kid” Devlin said. “You survived an attack on your families’ estate and you sought us out singlehandedly. You’re ready for this”

“Your enemies won’t be waiting around for you to be ready before they come after you again, you need the experience” Vex handed her a piece of parchment. “A client in Solitude needs an item retrieved from the Blue Palace”

“The Blue Palace?” Sofie said. Sofie had seen the palace on her trips to Solitude, the city now considered the political and military heart of Skyrim.

 “It’s simple. Get to Solitude, meet our contact, do the job, profit” Vex leant forward in her seat. “Just remember. Do the job first, get drunk second”

 

********************

Solitude, an Imperial bastion built in the heart of the Nordic terrain of Skyrim. At any other time it would seem out of place but after the Imperial victory it seemed appropriate to be given its place as the heart of Imperial control in the region.

Sofie hoped that being the daughter of an Imperial she would be able to make a more subtle entrance into the city than she had managed in Riften-

_You in the hood_

Sofie stopped in her tracks, her hand instinctively drifting towards her weapon at her belt but stopping just short of drawing the weapon.

She turned to face the source of the voice, two city guards dressed in crimson armour approached her. “What’s your name, citizen?”

“Adrianna Stark” whispered the false name beneath her breath.

“Show me your face” the guard ordered.

Sofie reluctantly reached up to hold the sides of her hood in her hands.

_Did they know who she was? Did they know of her affiliation with the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood?_

With her hands beside her head she knew the handle of her longsword was beyond her reach. So many concerned themselves solely with protecting their heart and their necks they often overlooked that most armour sacrificed protection to the inner thigh to allow greater comfort and manoeuvrability. A single accurate strike was all that was necessary to sever a major artery leading to irreversible blood loss within-

“ _No doubt, she’s the one we’re looking for_ ”

The guard’s words tightened Sofies muscles as she prepared to make a leap for the blade. Her only hope was that she could strike before he could react and escape-

“You have been summoned before the Jarl” the first guard said.

Sofie knew the unexpected response was not born of aggression, allowing her hands to fall casually to her sides. “As you wish”

With her acceptance she feared that she had already been captured. 

 

********************

Escorted by the guards into the Blue Palace Sofie was brought into the main chamber to stand before the new High Queen of Skyrim, Elisif the Fair.

“Mi lady” Sofie greeted her queen with a respectful bow, descending to her knee.

Elisif calmed her with a wave of her hand. “Please, there is no need for such formalities”

Sofie rose to her feet.

“You are the daughter of the Dragonborn” Elisif gave it more as a statement than a question.

“Yes mi lady. Sofie Hunter, at your command” the guards neglected to raise any comment at the sudden change in identity.

However doubt lingered in her mind that the Jarl had simply mistaken her and been proved correct by chance. Perhaps this had merely been a trial to discern her identity and she had inadvertently let slip the truth. Such doubts were forced quickly to the back of her mind as she returned to the moment at hand.

“I remember you” Elisif continued. “I was present at your mother’s funeral”

_She was there?_

Elisif rose from her throne, stepping forward to stand before her visitor. “Please, let me look at you” Sofie raised her head to face Elisif. “You look so much like her” Elisif cooed.

“Thank you my lady” Sofie replied.

“Her death was a tragic loss to all of Skyrim. Your mother was a great ally to me even after the wars end”

“My mother was glad to have served the Empire faithfully” Sofie said.

“You must miss her greatly” Elisif said.

“I do my lady. But my mother was never one to let hardship hold her back, and I know she would not wish me to be so consumed by her death as not to live my own”

“I am glad to hear that. If there is anything you require of me, anything at all, please ask” Elisif offered with genuine sincerity.

_Could it really be so simple, could she simply ask for that which she had trekked the length of the frozen tundra to steal?_

“I thank you mi lady. That is most generous of you” Sofie bowed. “But I have merely arrived in the city as I travel further, to see the land my mother fought to protect with my own eyes”

“As you wish” Elisif descended back into her throne. “But if you ever need anything of me, please do not hesitate to ask”

 

********************

The door to the _Winking Skeever_ groaned open on its hinges as Sofie Hunter entered the Solitude tavern.

As she stepped inside the call of music wafted on the breeze. The lyrics of Age of Aggression, the Imperial war song of the civil war, adapted after the Imperial victory.

_We drink to our youth, to days come and gone, for the Age of Aggression is finally done_

_We drove out the Stormcloaks and restored what we owned, with our blood and our steel we did take back our home_

_Down with Ulfric, the Killer of Kings, now cast to your death we will drink and we’ll sing_

_We’re the children of Skyrim and we fight all our lives and when Sovngarde beckons every one of us dies_

Sofie could hear the mumbled growls of several Nords in the corner of the bar. During the war any Nord worth his beard would have not thought twice about challenging a fight in the middle of Imperial controlled Solitude, simply regarding such an endeavour as ‘A challenge’. Now though it appeared the prideful Nord spirit had been thoroughly knocked out of the people of Skyrim, at least for now. Despite General Tulius and Imperial command having declared ‘An overwhelming victory’ Imperial dominion over Skyrim remained tenuous at best. Mutters of descent freely circulated across the territories and there were even murmured talks of another uprising amongst the more radical groups. But with so few true Nords left to fight there remained no symbol for all to rally behind, no call to arms to accept, no battle cry to chorus. Even amongst those willing to stand the fresh scars of the last rebellion tempered their resolve and stayed their blades.

As a Nord by birth Sofie felt an almost overwhelming cultural divide within her that had lingered since she was a babe. Her mother was a hero of the Imperium and those Imperials who knew her thought of her entire family as one of their own. The question always plagued her. Would Skyrim be so different if the Stormcloaks had won in the end? Different masters, different banners, same songs.

_I thought the songbird would be eager to join in the chorus._

Sofie turned to see an Argonian sitting idly at the table behind her, offering a seat with a wave of his hand whilst slipping a mug of ale with the other. Sofie accepted the offered seat without a word.

“Your little trip to the Blue Palace wasn’t exactly in keeping with the concept of maintaining a low profile” Gulum-Ei said by way of introduction, a slithery reptilian tick marked his words.

“It wasn’t exactly my choice” Sofie retuned.

“Whether it was by your choice or not is irrelevant” he hissed. “They know your face so you’ve just made the job that much harder-”

“Wrong” Sofie interrupted. “I just got a tour of the interior layout of the Blue Palace, a mental map of guards, points of entry and escape routes. On top of that they know me as a personal friend of the Jarl and will not question my presence if I’m caught”

Gulum-Ei hissed beneath his breath, his tongue flickering with alien agility. No doubt the gesture held some significance to others of his species, for Sofie it was mere idle movement. “You truly are your mother’s brood” the creature took another sip of his drink. “Like her it seems that you actually believe most of the vile dung which emanates from that hole you call your mouth”

Sofie spoke with conviction but it was clear that he had been around long enough to know an amateur when he saw one. The truth was that despite her growing confident exterior she remained a novice.

“Just so we’re clear, I get paid whether you secure the item or not. Don’t expect me to come burst you out of prison if you get caught. You on the other hand only get your commission upon successful delivery of the item, which means no deaths and no jail time. Still think you’re up to the task?”

“My life depends on it” Sofie replied.

“It always does, Little Dove”

 

********************

Sofie moved through the dark places of the city. Draped in the jet black cloak she blended into the looming shadows as she shimmied across the thin balcony on the outside of the Blue Palace.

At the peak of the night Sofie expected the entire city to be held in the warm embrace of sleep. She peeked through the half open window, feeling the gentle breeze wafting the fine scent of perfumes from inside as she stepped in through the window. Sofie knew what had to be done, sneak in, get the item and slip back out unnoticed-

Her foot caught on the corner of a table, unsettling a ceramic jug and sending it tumbling towards the floor. Sofies hand lashed out quickly to catch the jug before it fell, she hoped that no one was around to hear-

_“I knew you would come”_

Sofie froze in her step. Slowly glancing up she saw Elisif the Fair, Jarl of Solitude and Queen of Skyrim, sitting at the far edge of the wide bed. A brush passed effortlessly through her auburn hair, clothed in a thin cream white robe that draped across her slender body. Elisif rose from her bed, her night clothes cascading over her as the hem of her robes gathered on the floor. “I remember seeing you when you were a little girl” Elisif stepped around the bed to face the thief who had so boldly intruded upon her chamber. She was unarmed and knew her nightdress would offer little protection against the touch of magic or steel. Elisif reached out, caressing her creamy white hand across Sofies flustered cheek. “You really are the image of your mother. Think of what she would say to see what you have become”

“A disgrace” Sofie fought back a stifled tear as she blurted out the words. “A failure” she felt defeated, such a simple assignment had been so easily blundered. How had her life reached this moment? Consorting with thieves and murderers, now so eager to betray someone she had served and had so eagerly offered assistance-”

“She would never think so harshly of you” Elisif reassured her. “Even now she knows that any ills you may have committed were for purely selfless reasons”

“Even after finding me here?” Sofie asked. “You must have known I came here”

“After I heard about what had transpired at your families’ estate I instructed my guards to be on the lookout should you or any of your family seek sanctuary”

“Then, have you heard about anybody else?” Sofie knew the answer before she even asked the question.

“I am sorry” she replied forlornly. “I sent riders to the other holds but I have yet to receive word in return”

“There is so much I thought I knew about my mother, so much I was never told” Sofie said.

“You must realise” Elisif offered her bed with a wave of her hand, to the two f them sitting on the edge of the bed. “The war cost us all much; truth and honour were the first to fall. You may not remember much, you were too young to truly understand, and now many of the stories have become embellished and exaggerated”

“But what of the things I have learnt since I started my journey?” Sofie said.

“I admit that there were times I questioned your mothers’ true loyalties, the truth of her closest held beliefs. I had heard the stories, the rumours surrounding the Emperors death”

Sofie bit her lip and compelled herself to resist the overwhelming urge to speak out. Whatever her mother may have been life her name did not have to be cast to disgrace in death by a slip of her daughters wavering tongue.

“But there was one thing I never questioned, that your mother loved Brelyna, you and your sister with all of her heart. While you may not have been born of her blood her love for you all had no limit” Elisif said. “I owe my life to your mother” Elisif reached up beneath her auburn hair, releasing the clasp of the necklace around her neck. “If this trinket will be of help, please take it”

Sofie was only now learning the true extent of Elisifs generosity. She knew that she could leave now and satisfy the Thieves Guild, but duty to her mother compelled her. “There must be something I can give you in return?”

Elisif bit her lip as if she were conflicted by her next words. “The truth is, I have not felt another’s touch since my husband’s passing. Your mother always looked so beautiful” Elisifs hand reached up to caress Sofies cheek. “When I look at you I see the woman who saved my life, for whom I carried the flickering embers of a flame and yet never allowed myself the courage to admit my feelings before her passing. Even if you may not be bound by blood, I do not doubt that you are your mother’s daughter. Would you perform a royal duty and remain with me for the night?”

Sofies heart fluttered in her chest. Despite her growing experience she still thought of herself as the same fresh faced virgin she been her life. Sofie reached her hand up to caress Elisifs cheek in return, leaning forwards she pressed her lips to Elisifs. Sofie tasted an exotic assortment of fresh fruits and fine flavours on the woman’s lips, tastes drawn from all corners of the known world to be met upon a single kiss.

Elisif ceased the embrace between them. Stepping back she reached up to the nape of her neck and allowed a single pull to unravel the delicate bow which held her nightgown in place. The material flowed across her like river to pool as a single neat mound at her feet, leaving her only dressed in the single gold and ruby circlet crowned atop her head. Despite the ever present burden of ruling a kingdom at war no doubt weighing heavily upon her the young queens skin remained silky soft and supple, her breasts high and perky and her physique curvaceous and smooth.

“It appears that sometimes it takes a child to talk the Jarl into wearing no clothes” Elisif smiled sweetly at their private joke. It appeared that her mother’s favourite phrase was taking on new meaning with each passing day. Despite their opposing states of dress Sofie felt almost naked in the presence of the High Queen, in many ways the unwavering certainty and confidence the woman wielded in command of a nation had brought her young interloper to silence. In that moment Sofie was cast back to the frost bitten streets of Windhelm, yearning to reach out and clutch the total stranger who took it upon themselves to care for the orphan who by all rights should-

Elisif wrapped her arms around Sofies shoulders, pressing her bare body against the cold black leather of her armour. Even through her light armour Sofie could feel the warmth of Elisifs body washing across her. Elisifs elegant hands reached up to release the clasp of Sofies cloak, allowing it to move effortlessly across her shoulders to fall to the floor at her feet. Elisifs hands moved across the smooth contours of her black leather. Sofies skin began to prickle, despite the divide presented by her armour the mere presence of the woman’s hands elicited a reaction from the inexperienced young woman.

Elisif unclipped the straps and buckles which bound Sofies armour snug against her skin. With each clasp and buckle opened another creamy white patch of sun kissed skin was revealed, in the end there was little else that could be hidden from Elisifs eyes.

“I have something for you” Elisif whispered in her partner’s ear. “Please, take it from the wardrobe”

Sofie did as she was requested, stepping across the room and kneeling down she opened up the bottom door of the wardrobe to find the gift Elisif had laid out for her. Sofie had heard tales of a device which allowed women to masquerade as men, but this was the first time she had ever seen it for herself. It appeared to be made of finely polished moonstone, inlayed with countless crystals no larger than a pin head whose lustre gave it an almost divine glow. The full 6 inch length was secured with smooth black leather straps, the unblemished surface suggesting the item had never been used.

“Since my husband passed” Sofie heard Elisifs voice behind her. “I have wished for one last chance to be treated like a true Nord woman. To tell you the truth I had hoped it to have been your mother” Elisifs soft hands cupped Sofies shoulders, her body tensing and her heart racing in her chest. “Would you do me the honour of wearing this tonight?”

“Yes, my lady” Even before the words had left had lips Sofie knew the gravity of the task she had undertaken.

Elisif took the gift into her hand, kneeling behind Sofie she helped the young girl step into the straps. Raising the soft leather straps across her legs, she secured the straps around her waist as though she were an attendant to her mistress. Elisif held her hand to Sofies thigh, turning Sofie to face her Elisif knelt with the full length extending ahead of Sofie. Elisifs lips kissed the tip of the faux penis, each repeated kiss allowing her lips to eclipse more and more of the length of the faux penis.

Having wetted the tip Elisif stood and returned herself to the bed, crawling on all fours she glanced back at Sofie standing behind her. Without a word or command Sofie stepped forward to place herself behind Elisifs well-rounded rump, the tip of her faux penis caressing Elisifs outer lips. This situation was becoming more and more like a novel of a young maiden being taken advantage of by a dashing intruder.

“Do not fear, Little Dove” Elisif whispered to her. “You merely have to think of it as an extension of yourself and allow your instincts to take hold”

Sofie tentatively reached out to grasp Elisifs thighs in her hands, gradually pressing herself forward as the tip passed the outer lips. Elisif inhaled sharply as she accepted the unexpected insertion, sighing softly as the wave of pleasure washed over her. “This is my favourite position, as any Nord should take their wife”

The mention of Sofies true lineage enflamed something within her, perhaps unintentionally on Elisifs part, something primal and deep within her. A blood red haze descended across her eyes, animalistic instinct overtook her mind. Tightening her grip she thrust her hips forward to begin penetrating Elisifs pussy. With each thrust and retreat the depth and ferocity of her assault grew, the elicit thrill of the act only enflaming her passions and spurring her to continue. In that briefest of moments all sense of prudence and reticence had been cast aside, the wild mountain beast that was the pride of her lineage had been unleashed. She reached out to grab a clutch of Elisifs elegant hair in her hands, causing the woman to throw her head back and cry out in a mixture of pain as pleasure as the full brunt of overwhelming orgasm ripped through her. Unable to sustain herself any longer Elisif meekly collapsed onto the bed, unable or unwilling to muster any further resistance.

Upon seeing the proud woman reduced to such a state the blood washed from Sofies eyes, the animalistic rage retreated from her mind. The stark realisation of what she had done surfaced in her conscious mind. Sofie retreated, falling unceremoniously onto the bed beside Elisif, clasping her face in her hands. She felt the last of Elisifs juice weeping down the length of the faux strap on to stain her bare legs.

“I’m sorry” Sofie whispered softly. “I don’t know-”

Sofie heard a sound, she glanced over to see Elisif laid out across the bed, her head buried amongst the sheet. She heard the sound of muffled whimpers. Elisif suddenly threw her head back in the air, erupting in uncontained laughter, the unexpected reaction throwing Sofie off completely. “Elisif-”

Elisif looked down at Sofie. With renewed energy she leapt across to lay atop her younger lover, drawing her into a warm embrace. “Oh, you beautiful Little Dove”


	5. Nights Domain

Having completed the task requested of her by the Thieves guild sense would compel her to return to Riften and claim she was owed, the information which could save her family. But ever since leaving the manor in Falkreath she had felt an unshakable urge to return home which became ever more difficult to ignore. She had to know the truth of what had happened; she had to see with her own eyes.

 

****************************

Dismounting Shadowmere she stood before her families’ estate bathed beneath the silver glow of a full moon. With unwavering certainty in her heart she pressed her open palm against the face of the front door, feeling it give with only the faintest application of force. The door creaked open, revealing the dark interior in an updraft of displaced dust particles.

Sofie took her first cautious step inside, feeling a cold chill wash over her. This was not the warm, inviting place her family had called home for the past several years. Stepping into the Great Hall she found it dormant, the long dead embers settled in the stove the faintest hint that someone once called this place home.

Scorch marks and thick scratches pockmarked walls of the estate, each mark told the harrowing tale of the conflict which had raged here not so long ago. Despite these clear signs they gave no insight into the fate of her family. Sofie had held some faint hope that coming here would provide some clue as to where they may have found their safe haven. It seemed no such truths would be found here, she turned on her heel to-

So, the lost little lamb has finally returned home

Sofie turned and drew her sword in a single flourish, clasping the hilt tightly with both hands her eyes searched for the voice concealed in the shadows.

“Who dares to taint this place?” the girl who had mere weeks ago had been a mouse now called with a booming roar which echoed through the cavernous estate. “This is the estate of the Dragonborn”

The Dragonborn is dead

“I am the daughter of the Dragonborn” Sofie replied sternly.

The Dragonborn had no children

“I am her daughter by oath” Sofie replied. “And as her heir I claim this estate rightfully as my own and do not suffer trespassers. Show yourself”

As you wish

A ghostly mist began to descend upon the Great Hall from the balcony above. A woman emerged dressed in flowing black robes with a blood red corset and trim, her eyes shimmering with an unnatural glow in the dim light.

“Allow me to introduce myself” the woman said. “Serena, formally of Clan Volkihar. You may not remember me but I was a close acquaintance of your mother”

“Many people seem to be making that claim these days” Sofie said. “Why should I believe you?”

Serena smiled devilishly. “But you see in my case it’s the truth. But I guess it takes-” Serena stumbled her words. “It takes a- oh, what was that phrase she kept blathering? Take a child to tell the King he is wearing the wrong colour? Take a child to tell the Queen she is wearing last season’s gown?”

“Takes a child to tell the Jarl he is wearing no clothes” Sofie interrupted.

“That’s it” Serena said.

Sofie was conflicted as to whether she believed this woman was simply toying with her or if she had truly been struggling to recall the genuine phrase. Sofie reluctantly lowered her blade, preparing to raise it again at a moment’s notice. Even if this woman had been a companion of her mother she had heard enough of Clan Volkihar to question her true intentions in coming here.

“So my mother worked with vampires now? What else, are you going to tell me she was a Werewolf? That she spent a sordid night in the Temple of Dibella with the demon Prince of Excess?”

“You misunderstand, Little Dove” Serena replied. “Your mother fought against Clan Volkihar and resisted the temptation of power offered by my father”

It seemed that with every new thing she learnt about her mother the less she truly knew her. Had all she thought she knew been a lie, or had she simply been too young and too naive to know the truth if she had seen it.

Sofie turned to leave without another word. It was clear she was not going to learn anything here which could help her family. She had to return to the Guild and-

“Your mother and sister are safe” Serena called after her, staying Sofies hand as she reached for the handle. “Your mothers housecarl, Lydia, she took them back to your family’s home in Whiterun. Jarl Balgruuf has pledged his support in bringing justice to those who threatened your family. Frankly he’d have greater success growing a Skeevers tail out of his rear but it demonstrates his unwavering loyalty to your mother even in her death”

Sofie refused to answer. Was this woman toying with her, torturing her with the honeyed words she so desperately wished to hear?

“Sorry, I assumed that after fleeing your family home and spending every waking moment fleeing for your life fearing for the lives of your family you’d appreciate knowing they were safe”

It just seemed far too contravened. After having made an unexpected diversion across half of Skyrim to return to her families’ estate she met with an accomplice of her mother who knew the truth of her families’ fate.

“How do you know that?” Sofie asked.

“After spending countless centuries entombed beneath the surface, blind and deaf to the world only to emerge and discover Cyrodill had emerged as an empire I endeavoured never to be caught flat footed again. When I heard a whisper about the family of the deceased Dragonborn I decided to probe deeper. Although I expected you knew the truth already, given the company you keep”

“What do you mean?” Sofie asked.

“If you don’t believe me, ask the Golden Viper” Serena replied.

“Stop speaking in riddles” Sofies patience was fast deteriorating.

“Come now, Little Dove” Serena smiled devilishly. “Where would be the fun in that?”

 

****************************

Upon her return to the Ragged Flagon Sofie found Vex sitting at a table, idly reading a note held in her hand. Sofie sat across from her. “I thought my family was dead”

“Good morning to you too” Vex neglected to look up as she cast another note onto the growing pile on the table.

“You knew all along didn’t you?” Sofie persisted.

Vex cast aside the few remaining notes still held in her hand, whisking her feet off of the table she starred straight into Sofies gleaming eyes. “Yes, I did” Vex admitted flatly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sofie asked, resisting the urge to flinch away.

“Let me ask you something” Vex asked. “What good would it have done if you had known? Would you have kept going knowing what you know now?”

“It should have been my choice” Sofie said.

“And what would have been your choice?” Vex asked. “Return home as weak as you were having learnt nothing? And how would you have fared when you again meet your man with the sapphire eyes? Would your family prove themselves so fortunate a second time?”

“When did you know?” Sofie asked.

“The letter arrived the morning before you left for the Blue Palace” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sofie persisted. “You knew the worries that plagued me, not knowing if my family lived or died. And yet you sat across from me and lied to my face”

“I never lied to you because you never asked what I knew of them” Vex insisted. “I only told you my people would return when they had discovered something conclusive. We heard rumours of a heavily armed woman travelling through the wilderness escorting two people in cloaks. Hardly conclusive evidence”

“It seems fate maintains a cruel sense of humour” Sofie said.

“While you have been gone I have received something far more conclusive” Vex reached into the pile of papers on the table, retrieving a single piece of faded paper. “Your family is safe in Whiterun, escorted there by your housecarl. Jarl Balgruuf has committed his resources to search for the attackers”

Perhaps it was true then. Both of them couldn’t be lying, what could they seek to gain?

“Just be aware” Vex warned. “If you return to your family you may put them in greater danger. You were lucky to escape the first time, returning to them now may only draw the enemies’ attention” 

“What are you suggesting, I abandon them?” Sofie asked.

“No” Vex said. “I’m saying you continue as you are. Expand your knowledge until you know who attacked you; grow your skill until you are strong enough to face them” 

“I doubt it will serve as a consolation” Vex retrieved another scrap of paper and passed it to Sofie. “The most promising lead we found was the inscription on the weapon. The library at the College of Winterhold holds the greatest repository of arcane knowledge in Skyrim. Use the information as you wish”

Sofie passed the notes over in her hands, without a word she rose from her chair and began to depart. “I understand if you do not wish to depart as friends, but I hope that we do not part as enemies”

Sofie stopped short of leaving the bar. “You helped me in finding another clue about my attackers. For that I am grateful”


End file.
